terça-feira, 30 de abril de 2019

(I Used To Dream In) Black and White with Green Seagull - An Interview


Em seus últimos suspiros o TBTCI convida a todos a embarcarem rumo a uma era onde as cores, as drogas e o amor iluminavam e comandavam toda e qualquer festa, evento, encontro, enfim, uma era que ficou eternamente marcada como os loucos anos do psicodelismo clássico.

Nesta viagem, a trilha sonora ficará a cargo dos ingleses do Green Seagull.

Ouvi-los é um exercício absolutamente nostálgico rumo a nosso destino, fritações, fuzz, alucinações tudo de forma revivalista obviamente. É impossível ouvi-los sem pensar em Standells, Byrds, Love, bem a lista é imensa e você sabe exatamente do que se trata.

O novo single "Simeon Brown b/w Belladonna" sucede o alucinógeno, "Scarlet Fever" lançado o ano passado, e não há muita diferença entre ambos, apenas o modo como você terminará sua viagem.

O TBTCI e o Green Seagull ofertam o ticket de ida, agora a volta, fica por sua conta.

Boas vibrações.


***** Interview with Green Seagull *****

Q. When did Green Seagull begin? Tell us about the history...
Paul Nelson: It started a few years back now when my old band was coming to an end and I wanted to start something new, I approached Paul Milne to see if he was interested in doing something, ‘and the rest is history’ as they say..... Luckily, he was able to bring Sarah with him and a bit later on we managed to nab Elian - and that was when things started to come together nicely.

Sarah: The band started about 3 years ago. I was in a band called The Magnetic Mind with Paul Milne. Paul Milne started collaborating with Paul Nelson and then decided to focus on this new band and I joined them shortly after. We spent about a year writing songs together before we played any gigs. Our debut album was released last year (March 2018) on Mega DoDo. We had a fair bit of radio play on BBC 6 Music and some great reviews in Shindig and Record Collector magazines too.

Q: Who are your influences?
Paul Nelson: We all enjoy similar things musically, which is very handy. Anything with good melodies, tight song writing structures and vocal harmonies do it for us. We all enjoy the likes of: the Left Banke, the Beatles, The Byrds, West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band and The Association to name but a few. I also enjoy the Brazilian Tropicália movement: Os Mutantes, Os Brazōes and Caetano Veloso for example.

Q. Make a list of 5 albums of all time…
Paul Nelson:
· Moby Grape (1st album)
· Byrds: Younger than yesterday
· Beatles: Sgt Peppers
· Iron Butterfly: In a Gadda Da Vida
· The Kinks: Something Else by the Kinks

Sarah’s Top 5:
1. Love – Forever Changes
2. The Doors – LA Women
3. Buffalo Springfield – Buffalo Springfield
4. The Beatles – Abbey Road
5. The Beach Boys – Pet Sounds

Q. How do you feel playing live?
Paul Nelson: It’s a lot of fun for all of us. I think we are improving all the time too. It’s a great way to practise your dance moves!

Sarah: I really enjoy playing live. There’s nothing like the buzz of performing, but I equally enjoy recording in the recording studio too.


Q. How do you describe Green Seagull´s sounds?
Paul Nelson: I think we have quite an unusual mix of sounds generally. I suppose we sound like a mixture of west-coast style rock (Byrds, Buffalo Springfield, Strawberry Alarm Clock, Love) along with some British elements thrown in too (Beatles, Kinks, etc..) Lately though, we have been evolving our sounds a bit - we like to experiment.

Sarah: Baroque pop. My training as a classical pianist and violinist fits in well with the ‘baroque’ element of our band. I added in a Bach influenced section on ‘Remember the Time’, have played violin and viola on our new single, ‘Simeon Brown’ and enjoy coming up with baroque style harpsichord and organ parts too.

Q: Tell us about the process of recording the songs ?
Paul Nelson: We make song demos ourselves prior to going into the recording studio. It has been an efficient way of working and we like it like that. We like to get down to business!

Sarah: We are recording our second album at Sausage Studios (owned by Nick formerly of Franz Ferdinand) in London with Seb Kellig producing us -same studio where we recorded our debut album. It’s a great place to work in and there’s a lot of Nick’s cool vintage gear in there. I usually borrow his Philacorda or Clavinent to play on. Usually we focus on recording the backing tracks first, ensuring we get a good take of the bass guitar and drums. Then we focus on the overdubs and the vocals. Mixing a song can take a day or two. For our latest single ‘Simeon Brown’ I played the Piano and the Optigan, which is an early type of sampler a bit like a Mellotron, for a flute like part. It has such a unique sound. Paul Milne also played some synthesizer parts that sounded like low brass instruments (trombone/ tube).

Q. Which new bands do you recommend?
Paul Nelson: Only us!

Sarah: The Fernweh, Gloria, Das Lunsentrio and Manuela

Q: Which band would you love to made a cover version of?
Paul Nelson: I’d enjoy doing something by Gary Glitter, but I think that might be too controversial for most to stomach. It’d be fun to do something that was radically different from what we usually find enjoyable and translate it into our own style.

Sarah: We are already toying with the idea of doing a cross between The Byrds and Buffalo Springfield cover band. We are thinking of calling it ‘Byrds-a-lo-Springfield’.

Q: What are your plans for the future?
Paul Nelson: To continue writing, playing and recording and to play in as many different countries as possible. Brazil for instance!

Sarah: To continue to write as much new music together as possible. We are working on a second album and will release on Mega DoDo Records later in the year. Got some cool gigs in the UK coming up too including supporting The Seeds on 20th April at the 229 Venue. Hope we will come to play in Brazil one day.

Q: Any parting words?
Paul Nelson: We hope to play São Paulo at some point in the future - maybe you can make it so?

Sarah: Live long and prosper!
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Thanks

https://soundcloud.com/greenseagull
https://www.facebook.com/greenseagull/